Wintersleep - Untitled

Wintersleep’s untitled sophomore album (well, it's technically called Untitled) doesn’t hold up to the fact the group has been deemed the “best band in [its native] Halifax” for the past three years. Nor do the comparisons to Radiohead or Mogwai hold much water. Those two bands are known for being miners of sound, explorers of new territory on the musical landscape. Wintersleep may owe a minimal amount of influence to those bands, but these Canadians aren’t rehashing either’s experimental bent. But in its own right, the album at hand is haunting and pretty, a tribute to abysmally cold atmospheres and slight-but-pretty guitar melodies. It takes until about the fourth track before Wintersleep really hits its stride, but from that point on, they’re undertaking an engaging endeavor of an album. [www.wintersleep.com]